It Takes Time
by songsaboutjasper
Summary: Sometimes you meet your soulmate on the kindergarten playground. Sometimes it takes a while for you to realize they were the one. A Jason and Piper AU where it takes them, basically, a lifetime to get it together and be together. I'M EMOTIONAL BC OF THE BURNING MAZE AND JASPER NEEDS ALL OF THE FLUFF. Jasper One-shot


**long time no see! i haven't been reading that much fic lately, let alone finding any good ones, so if you have any recommendations for jasper au's (or angst cause I found a really good one recently and i kind of enjoy angst now) please private message me or put it in your review! I'm DYING to read some!**

 **I hope you enjoy!**

 **(beware of clichés, i will probably have a TON of them) (ALSO: JASON AND PIPER ARE GOING TO BE IN THE NEW TRIALS OF APOLLO AND MY BODY IS READY. IVE MISSED MY PRECIOUS BABIES SO MUCH. AHHHHHHH.) (that second parenthesis comment was made before burning maze came out. i address TBM at the end of this story)**

 **sidenote: i've been writing/editing this one shot for a really long time but due to recent events within Rick's books I'm deciding to post this with very minimal edits. Rick's caused me a lot of pain these last few days because of The Burning Maze (i'll talk about that at the end of this one shot) so I want to just post some fluff for my favorite characters of all time.**

 **disclaimer: I don't own these characters but i wish i did because i wouldn't have done what rick did.**

 _ **Dedicated to Jason Grace. Thank you for all of the years that I have spent obsessed with you and Piper. You mean the world to me.**_

 _Age 5_

"Leo, come on! I want to be the first one on the slide today! Annabeth beat me yesterday!" 5-year-old Piper McLean shouted to her best friend. Kindergartners only went to the playground once a day and this kindergartener was determined to beat the stubborn blonde girl she had grown to become friends with.

"One second, Piper. I could have sworn i just had my hammer somewhere near me." Leo proceeded to turn in circles, looking around for his toy hammer his mother had given him. Not that much progress was made, though, since Leo hadn't bothered to actually look for the hammer. He was too dizzy and had way too much fun spinning around. He proceeded to keep turning around, making his sight even more topsy-turvy.

Piper laughed and placed her hands on his shoulders, stopping the boy from continuing on until he threw up. "Leo, come on! SLIDE. Remember?"

Leo put a hand to his head, trying to stop it from spinning like the rest of his body had already done. "Right, I know. I just want my hammer!"

At that moment a finger had tapped the Latino boy's shoulder and Leo turned around quickly. He instantly regretted it since his head started to throb even more.

"Were you looking for this?" The blonde-haired boy that had tapped Leo's shoulder held out a plastic hammer to Leo. He shyly looked at Piper and Leo, biting the top of his lip that had a scar on it.

Leo broke into a grin. "Yes! Thank you!" He proceeded to take it from the blonde boy and kissed the now-found hammer. "Want to know my hammer's name?" Leo asked in a whisper to the boy.

The blonde boy nodded his head eagerly, wanting to know the name. He pushed his head forward towards "39ms outstretched hands.

Leo leaned towards the boy's ear, cuffing it with his hands, and opened his mouth. But before he could say anything in his normal voice, he screamed into the boy's ear with all of his might.

The blonde boy started to scream as well, in shock. Leo and Piper doubled over laughing.

"That was amazing!" Piper said and gave Leo a high five.

The blonde boy started to calm down and laugh with the two friends.

Piper and Leo looked at each other and nodded their heads. "Hey," Piper said. "Want to go on the slide with us?" She pointed towards the three slides that sat next to each other, towering in front of their tiny bodies.

The boy shrugged his shoulders and smiled. "Sure."

Piper beamed and linked arms with both Leo and their new friend. "I'm Piper and this is Leo." They started to walk.

"I'm Jason."

 _Age 10_

"Hey, Piper," Jason said as he walked up to her desk across the room from his. Leo, to all of their dismay, had been put in the other homeroom than the one the two of them had. The decision had been made by all of the staff, who had all learned fast that the three of them made chaos when they were all put together.

"Hey, Jason. Did you already finish math? I can't figure out what 8 times 7 is." Piper put her pencil's eraser to her forehead, her eyebrows furrowed.

Jason shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, it was easy." He sat down in the empty desk next to her, crossing his arms and resting his head in the middle. He angled his face so that he could still see her.

Piper narrowed her eyes and looked down at him. "You know the answer?"

Jason nodded, a scared look creeping onto his face. "Um... yeah. Why?"

"Tell. Me. Tell. Me. TELL MEEEEEEE." She answered, pushing his body to a sitting position and grabbing his shirt with both of her hands. "I NEED TO KNOW." She jostled him in desperation.

"I can't! It's cheating!" Jason's eyes had gone wide.

"It's not cheating if no one knows." Piper whispered dangerously. Her voice was laced with a threatening tone. She brought his face closer to hers, eyes blazing different colors.

Jason gave her a confused look. "Yes, it does."

"Nu uh!"

"Uh huh!"

"Ms. McLean, please release Jason from your grip." Their teacher had said from her desk. She pushed her glasses down, having a stern staring contest with Piper.

Piper let go of Jason in a huff. She crossed her arms and said, "If you don't tell me the answer then I'm going to tell everyone that you tried to eat a stapler. And cried. for. days." She glared at Jason.

"No, you wouldn't. You're too chicken." Jason stuck his tongue out.

Piper gasped loudly. "You did NOT just say that word!"

"But I did." Jason smirked and leaned forward, challenging her.

"Fine. I guess I will, then." Piper started to get up, mouth opening in preparation.

A look of panic started to appear on Jason's face and he quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her back to his seat. "NO! Fine, fine I'll tell you!"

Piper smiled triumphantly, knowing that Jason was too weak. "Thank you!"

Jason told her the answer and Piper hit her forehead, saying that she was stupid. Just then, a new girl entered the classroom.

The teacher jumped up from her seat, a bright and welcoming smile forming on her face. "Ah, yes! I was starting to wonder where you were! Come on over here and I'll tell you what they're doing right now." She walked over to the little girl and brought the girl to her desk.

The girl sat down in the seat in front of the teacher's desk.

Piper didn't think anything of the new girl whose brown hair was tightly braided to the side. The girl wore a purple t-shirt with clean-cut jeans, cuffed near the ankles. Piper simply locked eyes with Jason and shrugged her shoulders. She continued on with her half-finished worksheet, filling in the problems she knew and forcing Jason to help her out with problems that she didn't know.

Jason, on the other hand, couldn't stop looking at the new girl. Her back was straight and she radiated confidence. He smiled as he saw her laugh at something the teacher had said to her.

"Jason?" Piper asked, eyebrows furrowed towards her best friend. "Are you okay?"

Jason snapped back to reality and answered Piper. "Um, yeah. I was just wondering where that new girl came from."

Piper shrugged her shoulders. "Annabeth told me that there was a new girl transferring here from California. Maybe she's that girl."

"How did Annabeth know?"

"Doesn't she know everything?" Piper broke into a smile, remembering a certain predicament where Annabeth beat Jason in last year's annual trivia off that their school hosted.

Jason laughed, "True."

She flicked Jason on the forehead. "Now stop drooling over her and help me! What's 5 times 4?" She asked.

Jason rolled his eyes and messed the top of her hair.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, grinning at him.

 _Age 13_

Jason had been sitting at the edge of the pool with Leo for what felt like forever. The two had been waiting for Piper to arrive for an hour and they were starting to get impatient with their best friend.

"What do you think is taking her so long? It's not like we've never been to the pool together," Jason said, annoyed. He had been wanting to go to the pool with his best friends ever since school had started up again. The summer weather in New York would not be kind to them for long. Soon, the leaves would be turning orange and red and brisk winds would start to fill the city. Hot days were short around this time of the year.

Leo shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe her dad is running late? I'm gonna go get a soda, man. I'm soo thirsty." The Latino boy proceeded to hop up and head towards the mini fridge Jason's house had near the patio. "Do you need anything, Jase?"

Jason shook his head. "Nah, thanks though. I just need to go for a swim. She can jump in whenever she gets here." He then slid into the pool, feet first. He swam towards the other side of the pool and went for air just in time to hear sounds of other people.

"Sorry I'm late! My dad couldn't find your house!" Piper screamed as she ran around Jason's house. She came into the backyard out of breath, throwing her stuff onto the floor and reaching for Leo's soda in his hand. "LIQUID. NOW, VALDEZ!"

Leo handed it over reluctantly. "You could've said please, McLean. I have no respect around here. At least Jason said thank you! And showed up on time!"

"Jason _lives_ here, Leo." Piper gulped Leo's soda and handed it back to him.

"Then it makes sense!" He grabbed the soda haughtily and hugged the soda can to his chest.

"Where is Jason, anyway?" Piper looked around until she spotted his body swimming at the other end of the pool. "Oh no. He did NOT start swimming without me! What even is this?! What has life become?!" She started to take off her cover and run towards the pool. "GRACE. I'M COMING FOR YOU!" She then continued to run towards his terrified face and cannonballed into the pool in a perfect circular shape. Her splash was one for the records.

"10 out of 10, McLean! Congrats!" Leo said from the side, still cradling his soda can. "I would give you higher, but someone decided to deprive me from some _precious_ quality time with my soda."

"Jason has more, Leo," Piper said, swimming towards the edge of the pool that Jason had fled towards. "Sorry I'm late, Jase."

Jason took a second to comprehend what she had just said. He was too busy looking at her. Well, he wasn't _looking_ at her in a really inappropriate way, it had just been a long time since he saw her in a swim suit. His eyes briefly went up and down Piper's body, stopping a couple of times. Puberty. He gulped and then finally looked her in the eyes. She raised one of her eyebrows, grinning. "Um, it's cool. It was just getting a little too hot to not be in the pool. That's all," Jason answered, his voice a tad strained.

To avoid any more instances of him on the verge of embarrassment, he went back down under the water and started to swim towards the other end. Piper followed suit and swam next to him comfortably. Jason's pool wasn't that big, but it was big enough to swim laps around and become tired easily. The two of them swam next to each other for around two laps, Piper teasingly bumping Jason with her hip every couple of seconds. Jason shook off his initial feelings of Piper quickly, going back to the way he always thought of Piper, his best friend.

Piper went up for water first, complaining that Jason was too fit for both Leo and her to keep up with him once he had come up from the water as well. Leo was still out of the water, cherishing his beautiful soda that had two sips left inside. "Correction," Leo interjected. " _Piper_ can't keep up. I choose to not include competition in my life. It's too stressful and stress is unhealthy. Therefore, competition is unhealthy."

"You know what else is unhealthy, Valdez?" Piper asked, a smirk playing across her lips.

"Don't say it, Pipes. You're going to regret it," Jason warned.

Leo crossed his arms, ready to defend himself. "What?"

Piper breathed in, the suspense of her answer hanging tangibly in the air. Jason, being the idiot that he was, decided to save Piper and pushed her into the pool before she could say her answer. Leo started to laugh, spilling his soda onto the tiles of the patio. "NOOOOOOOOO!" He screeched.

Piper popped up from the water, "YOU DID NOT JUST PUSH ME INTO THE POOL, GRACE! I HAVE NO RESPECT AROUND HERE." She swam closer to Jason, who had been sitting at the edge of the pool, and pulled him back in with his leg. "PAYBACK!"

Jason went up for air then went back down to swim underneath Piper. He grabbed her by the waist, wrestling her. She laughed and kicked, trying to make his grip loosen. He threw her towards the middle of the pool and, after a satisfying splash, he claimed victory. Piper, however, swam quickly after she went back into the water and went towards him, his fists up in victory. He had swam over to a part where his feet were planted and he was standing. She then took this moment to pounce and jumped onto his back, forcing him to give her a piggy-back ride. Jason instinctively caught her, steadying her on his back, and Piper claimed victory.

"I WIN. VICTORY IS MINE. BOW DOOOOOWWWWWWWWN!" Piper screamed, arms raised and mouth grinning.

Leo clapped and finally started to walk into the pool. "All hail, Beauty Queen!"Piper frowned at the nickname. Leo continued, "She shall lead us confidently as we try to slay all of those not reaching her standards of beauty!"

Piper rolled her eyes. "You guys _know_ I hate that nickname. I'm not even pretty. Jason, tell Leo this obvious fact." She looked down at him from her position on his back.

Jason gulped. "Uh... Yeah, Leo. She's..." He looked at her pleadingly. "I can't just call you ugly, Piper!"

"Why not? I give you permission. Go ahead. Call me ugly, Ugly." She smirked at both of the boys. Leo had reached to their place in the water and started to lean against the edge of the pool nest to them, resting both of his arms on either side.

Jason raised his eyebrows. "Did you just call _me_ ugly? Now I _know_ I can't believe you anymore. I am the most beautiful person out of the three of us."

Leo laughed. "Mhm. I will have you know that all of the ladies love Leo. It's been a known fact since I was born."

"Just because your mom put it on a shirt and made you wear it doesn't mean it's true, Leo," Piper said.

"It is true when you have a picture of wearing that said shirt and ladies surrounding you," Leo said a matter-of-factly.

Jason laughed. "Not when all of the ladies are moms, dude."

Piper started to laugh, still in her position on Jason's shoulders. Suddenly, her phone started to ring from inside her bag. The two boys looked at her, waiting for her to acknowledge it. She didn't say anything.

Leo swam back to the stairs of the pool and went out, going towards her bag. He pulled out her phone and cocked an eyebrow when he saw the caller ID. "Why is Reyna calling you, Pipes?"

"Oh, she probably just needs Jason's address," she replied casually.

Jason looked at her weirdly, trying to hide the huge thumps his heart was making from within his chest. "Why would she need to know my address?"

"Oh, I, um, may have invited her over?"

"Can I answer it?" Leo asked, pointing to her phone. Piper nodded. "Hello?" Leo asked, her phone now held to his ear. "It's Leo. DO NOT GROAN. I AM THE BEST LAB PARTNER YOU WILL EVER GET. Yeah, she's here. I'll text you the address. K BYYYYYYEEEE, REY-REY!" The Latino boy held her phone away from his ear, the girl's voice over the phone loud enough to hear from the pool. "Well," Leo looked at the other two. "Guess we'll be having a couple of more people over now!"

Jason shrugged his shoulders, trying to ignore the fact that Reyna was coming over to his house. And she would see him. Shirtless. Piper kicked water towards his face, taking him away from his thoughts. She laughed and Jason dropped her off his shoulders and swam away, making her work to get back onto his shoulders. She found a way to hop back onto him eventually. Obviously.

 _Age 16_

Leo walked up to a stressed Piper who had just slammed her locker shut out of frustration. "You look happy today," he said as he slung an arm around her shoulders.

Piper blew a lock of hair away from in front of her face. "I'm ecstatic." She hugged Leo's waist as they continued walking down the hall. The two waved to Annabeth and Percy who were walking passed them, hands entwined. Annabeth smiled brightly at them.

"What's wrong?" Leo asked, brushing away the persistent lock of hair Piper tried to blow away.

Before Piper could answer, they passed a couple, a couple that were old friends of both Piper and Leo.

Reyna had accidentally dropped her AP Chemistry book and instead of helping her, Jason started to laugh.

"Thanks, Jase for proving that chivalry is, indeed, dead." Reyna bent over to pick up her massive textbook and whacked him in the side with it.

He started to laugh harder. "Hey, you are a strong and capable woman of the 21st century. AP Chemistry and chivalry have got nothing on you, Rey." He put his hands on her hips, bringing her closer.

"And you apparently have nothing as a girlfriend," she replied but a smile was creeping on her lips.

"Oh I didn't know you changed your name, Rey." He was hit yet again. Jason started to laugh and grabbed the textbook from her, stopping the physical violence.

"My textbook!"

"Hey, I'm trying to be a good boyfriend and hold your books for you." Jason looked wounded.

"So now you want to be a good boyfriend?"

Jason grinned. "Yes, I am. So shut up and let your boyfriend kiss you now." He circled his free arm around her waist and pulled her towards him, locking his lips with hers.

"Tests. Homework. Prom. Annoyingly cute couples." Piper wrinkled her nose as she passed Jason and Reyna.

"Hey, we're cute together," Leo said, faking offense and nuzzled his face in her neck jokingly. He laughed as his girlfriend pushed him away and towards the locker next to them. She walked towards her destination on the opposite side of the hallway, far from Leo's reach. "Oh, come on, Pipes. I was kidding. I know you loooooooove me." Leo made his way back to Piper's side and put his arm around her shoulders again.

Piper rolled her eyes but left his arm there resting comfortably. "You're very lucky that you aren't as annoying as you used to be. Otherwise I would have dumped you for Percy's dog." She paused. "Never mind, I would've taken Blue over you in a heartbeat if I could right now."

Leo pretended to pout. The two continued to walk outside of their school, heading towards Leo's car so they could go off campus and eat lunch. Goode allowed juniors and seniors to go off campus as long as they had a clean record. Luckily for Leo, Piper was very persuasive when he lobbied his right earlier that year. The principal and student council weren't happy to let him go at first but Jason was co-student body president with Annabeth. He and Piper were able to get everyone to come around.

"So," Leo started. He took his arm from around Piper's shoulder off in exchange for the two to hold hands. "Where do you want to go?" He went towards the driver's side of his truck and prompted Piper to throw over the keys from her side next to the passenger's seat's door. She threw them over, he unlocked, and the two got in.

"I don't know. Surprise me." She said as she got into her seat, a smile on her face.

Leo grinned. "That I can do." He started his car and they drove off towards McDonalds.

 _Age 18_

A knock sounded on Piper's opened door to her room. "Hey, Piper. You ready?" Annabeth Chase entered, her blonde hair curled, the princess curls finally let loose for the big day. She wore a gown of Goode's school color, blue, and her cap rested upon the top of her head, tassle in place. She walked into Piper's room, the one-inch heels clicking against the hardwood floors.

Piper turned around from her place in front of her full length mirror. "Um, yeah." She wiped her cheeks from the tears that had started to come down. "I just... I can't believe it's all over. It feels like it's just gone by way too fast. I just want to be 18 for a little longer."

Annabeth smiled sadly. "You'll be 18 until your next birthday." She winked.

Piper laughed. "You know I don't mean it that way."

"Well, you can never be sure with Piper McLean. I'm surprised I didn't have to get past a ton of guys waiting for you outside your house. It's a change since the last prom." Annabeth nudged her.

Piper rolled her eyes and picked up the cap she had yet to put on for the big occasion. "Nope. I'm going solo for a while, _Annie_."

Annabeth put her arms up in defeat. "Point taken. It's just you haven't been alone in a while. You also haven't had a steady boyfriend in a while," she said pointedly.

"Just because you get a happy ending with Percy doesn't mean we all do, Annabeth. I'm going to college in California. Percy is going to school in the same _city_ as you, Annabeth. I would kill to be in his position."

"Obviously. Our love story isn't over just yet, McLean." Annabeth joked.

"Come on, Annabeth. Let me be serious just this once." The blonde nodded. The two sat on Piper's bed. "Do I wish that Leo and I had lasted a little longer? I guess, but we're still best friends. Do I wish that I could have had a boyfriend that lasted longer than three weeks? Obviously but that just didn't happen. I don't think it'll happen in a long time. So," Piper jumped up from her bed. "Let's not dwell and, instead, help me look great for the last time I get to be in high school with my best friends. Okay?"

Annabeth grinned. "Okay. Let's rock this."

•••

"There comes a day where we all have to say goodbye. Whether it be to our parents on the first day of kindergarten or to an old friend that leaves the city to go on more adventures, everything comes to an end." Jason Grace stood on a podium in front of the entire senior class of Goode high school as well as their friends and family. His salutatorian speech was coming to an end, making way for Annabeth's valedictorian speech. "No matter how hard we try, it will happen. But, that just makes way for new beginnings. We say hello, whether it be to our first ever high school teacher freshmen year or to the little boy and girl looking for a hammer on the first day of kindergarten..."

Piper's head shot up. She looked at Jason Grace, a boy whom she hadn't thought of in a very long time. Their eyes locked for the first time. Maybe the last time.

He continued. "We say hello in hopes that we'll get a better grade in the class if we're nice to the teacher." The crowd laughed politely. "Or we say hello in hopes that we'll, without knowing, become life-long friends. So, as your salutatorian and a friend, good bye and hello." Jason smiled shyly as the college auditorium bursted into applause.

•••

Annabeth gladly hosted a graduation party for the senior class in the gymnasium of Goode. She thought it was fitting that the student body president and valedictorian put it together as her final hurrah, with help from Percy Jackson of course.

Piper entered the gym alone, looking down at her phone in hopes she wouldn't look _as_ pathetic as it was. She spotted Leo happily breakdancing in the middle of the dance floor and Annabeth pestering Percy to fix the streamers hanging from the ceiling. She walked towards the refreshments table to hopefully get a cup of water.

"Hey," a voice sounded behind her as she reached for a free cup.

Piper turned around, surprised, and locked eyes with Jason Grace. "Hey, yourself." She walked towards the dispenser and let the water fill her cup. "You had a really great speech today. It felt very... nostalgic."

"Yeah, that's what I was going for." He smiled shyly, scratching the back of his neck. "So, is Travis with you?"

"Travis?" Piper was confused. She hadn't talked to Travis in a week.

"Yeah, aren't you dating him?" Jason started to pour himself water as well.

"Nah, we broke up a couple of weeks ago." Piper gingerly sipped from her cup, the iced water refreshing her throat.

"Oh." Silence settled between the two.

Piper started to talk. "So how's Reyna?"

"She's good. She's out with her parents for dinner right now, actually."

"Ah, so you came here alone." Piper joked.

Jason laughed. "Well, even if she did come, I would have gone alone." Piper gave him a confused look. "We broke up two months ago. She's going to college down in Boston. I didn't want to get in her way."

"What do you mean?"

Jason took a drink of water. "I'm going to college in California so it only made sense to, you know, break it off. Reyna's not planning on moving to the west coast once she finishes up law school."

"Ah, long distance isn't in your future, young Padawan. Where are you going?" Piper gestured to a table where they could sit down at. The table had the cheesy tablecloth, balloons, and everything else one would expect.

Jason nodded his head and the two moved towards the chairs. "Berkeley. You?"

Piper smiled to herself. "UCLA"

Jason rose one of his eyebrows. "Really? I guess we'll see each other every now and then." He locked eyes with her.

"Guess so." Piper stretched her arms and shifted her eyes towards the center of the gymnasium.

"Um." Jason cleared his throat. "Would you like to dance?" He gestured towards the dance floor that was behind him. Leo was still dancing in the middle of a crowd that had started to surround him.

"Oh well," Piper hesitated. "I wasn't really planning on dancing tonight." Jason looked confused. "I really only came here for Annabeth," she explained. "I would have been perfectly happy with staying home and binge watching some Netflix."

"But can't you leave right now? Can't you drive yourself home?"

"Nope," Piper popped the 'P'. "Annabeth insisted that she drive me here to make sure I actually did come."

"Well," Jason got up from his seat. "I'll give you two options: we can go and dance and hang out with friends or I'll drive you home and you can sulk and watch Stranger Things." He nudged her shoulder, teasing her once she willingly got up as well.

"I'm not sulking."

"It sounds like you're sulking."

"Then you've never properly sulked before." Piper crossed her arms. "Also, I've already watched Stranger Things. Twice."

Jason gave her a 'Come on' look. "No, you've just never danced properly before." Jason offered his hand to her.

"I have danced properly. Is it wrong that a girl just wants to go home and watch TV?"

"Since it's the last night that we can spend with our classmates together, then yes. Come on, Pipes." He gave her a winning grin.

Piper rolled her eyes. "You know I can never say no to you when you call me that." She hesitatingly grabbed his hand.

"Hence why I called you it. Now, Pipes, are you ready to dance until you pass out?"

She laughed. "If you mean dance until I pass out from laughing at your moves, then yes. Let's see if you can dance, Sparky."

Jason grinned. "You're on, McLean." He gently grabbed her waist with one of his hands and twirled her onto the dance floor.

 _Age 25_

Piper shoved clothes into her suitcase and ran out her apartment door all while dialing an old friend's number into her phone. She entered the elevator out of breath and held her phone up to her ear. She breathed deeply, trying to catch her breath and checked her pockets, making sure that her passport and ID were with her. She clicked on the first floor's button and waited patiently for her friend to pick up as the doors closed.

"Hellooooo? Why, is this Piper McLean?" The annoying Latino boy's voice answered the phone.

She rolled her eyes but grinned. "Hey, Leo."

"Hey, Piper. What do you need?"

"I was just checking in. I'm leaving my apartment now. Is everything set at Annabeth's place?"

"Annabeth and Percy's, Piper," Leo corrected.

"Is everything set up at Annabeth and Percy's place?"

She heard Leo jump onto the couch. "Yep. What time are you going to arrive here?"

"Probably around 5 or 6 p.m.? I can't do math right now, it's too early."

"Don't you love time change?"

The elevator arrived at the first floor. "Adore it," Piper said into the phone. She pulled her suitcase and went out of her apartment building that was near the center of downtown L.A. She found the Uber that she had called thirty minutes ago and entered it. "Airport, please."

"So do you need anything else or shall I leave you to adore the L.A. traffic?" Leo said, amused.

"Nope, I was just checking on you. Make sure that Annabeth knows nothing. In fact, don't talk to her or anyone else at all today. Got it, Leo?"

"But..." he trailed off as Piper interjected.

"No buts. You can't talk to anyone that doesn't know. So basically you can only talk to me and Percy."

Leo went silent.

"What?"

"Well... Someone else knows."

Piper watched the city go past her as the car went towards the airport. "Who? Did you tell Calypso already?"

"No... Percy told someone else." Leo was acting strangely.

"Well, obviously he told his mom."

"No, he told someone else other than his mom."

"Leo spit it out or else I'll call Percy and ruin the date he's having with her right now," Piper threatened.

"No, don't bother them! I just... I guess you would've found out eventually. It's just that Percy told Jason too."

"Oh." Piper shrunk back in her seat. "Um, you could've just told me." She tried to mask her shock.

"I guess."

"Besides, it's not like he's coming to the party right?"

"Well..."

"LEO VALDEZ HE'S COMING AND YOU WEREN'T GOING TO TELL ME?"

"I thought if you knew then you would be in a bad mood! My point proven," Leo defended.

Piper rolled her eyes and took a deep breath. She wasn't going to let this news bother her. She'll be fine. "No, I'll be fine. I'm going for Annabeth. This is for _Annabeth_. My best friend."

"Hey, I'm your best friend."

"Not after today."

"I deserve that. Alright, I'm gonna let you go and catch your breath. I have that effect on ladies." Piper rolled her eyes. He continued, "I'll see you in a couple of hours, Pipes."

Piper froze at the sound of the nickname.

"Piper?"

"Um, yeah. Bye, Leo." She ended the call.

•••

Piper had settled in her window seat on the plane: neck pillow on, laptop out, and earbuds in. She was busy writing furiously on her opened Word document. She had to get this manuscript into her agent's inbox by the end of the week. She was so engrossed in her writing that she hadn't realized someone had said her name.

"Piper?" The voice asked in disbelief. "Piper? Piper. Piper!"

She was shook out of her writing high and jumped, hitting her knee against the lap tray. "Geez, a bit of a warning." Piper took her earbuds out and finally looked at the guy standing in the aisle, holding everyone up. His blue eyes were confused at what he was seeing right in front of him. "Jason?"

"Hey, kid, move will you? Some of us need to sit down."

Jason quickly looked at the man speaking and hurriedly sat down in the seat next to Piper. "I'm sorry, sir."

Piper's voice hardened. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm flying to New York," he answered simply. He started opening up his briefcase to get out his own laptop, clearly trying to avoid Piper's gaze.

She rolled her eyes. "I meant sitting next to me, idiot." She wished she could whack the back of his head playfully. She couldn't.

"Apparently, the Fates have decided to put my seat next to yours for this wonderful flight," he answered in a sarcastic tone. He took his airplane ticket out and showed her.

She rolled her eyes in frustration. Her voice grew louder. "Oh great. This is fantastic. I get to sit on this plan for maybe five or more hours next to..." Her voice trailed off.

Jason's eyes narrowed. "Your what? What am I to you, Piper? Because if I remember correctly, you broke up with me so if anyone should be angry in this situation, then it should be me." He opened his laptop roughly and stuck his earbuds in and began typing, the noise of his fingers tapping the keys filling the void of silence between the two.

Piper shrank back, hurt from what he had just said. She opened her own laptop gingerly and began to write more.

•••

A flight attendant walked up to a silent Jason and Piper. "Excuse me, can you both please put your laptops away and store the trays to where they were before? The plane is about to take off."

"Of course," Jason and Piper said at the exact same time. The two looked at each other.

"You will, of course, be able to use them once we are in the air."

"Thank you," Jason and Piper said at the exact same time. The two looked at each other.

"So," Jason started. "I guess since we'll have at least twenty minutes to kill before we are reunited with our beloved laptops, we can talk. How have you been?" He moved in his seat to sit face-to-face with Piper.

Piper sighed and rubbed her eyes, too tired to even try to fight the inevitable conversation the two would share. "I've been better. I have a huge deadline for the end of this week," she explained, surprised at how easy it was to tell him how she really felt.

Jason nodded in understanding. "I know how you feel. I'm working on my first deal and a lot is riding on it."

"So you're really joining your dad's business?" She asked, curiously.

"Yeah. Some things I just have to do, you know?"

"I do."

The two sat in silence.

"Jason, I'm really sorry with how I ended things. It was selfish of me." She shifted her gaze towards her window.

Jason continued to look at Piper. "It's fine, really. I understand why you did it. I think we needed to take a break from each other, figure things out for ourselves."

"Yeah, I guess."

"Hey," Jason grabbed her hand and interlaced their fingers. "It's okay. Don't beat yourself up about it. I'm still standing, you're still standing, and we're all still standing." He gave her a tired smile.

Piper let go of his hand quickly, masking the flood of emotions that had come over her, and pretended that she desperately needed to tie her hair up. "I know, I know. It's just. I can't help but wonder what would've happened if I didn't do it."

"If you didn't do it then we probably would have split up later on. Pipes, we needed to do it."

She nodded and put on a fake smile, looking back at Jason. "Yeah, I know. So, what's new in your life? Have you met someone else?"

Jason's eyes shifted around them, looking at the other pairs of people making small talk. They were all waiting for one thing: to get home. Whether it be a physical home or their friends and family. "Not really. I've been so busy with work and stuff. You?"

She laughed. "Not at all. I mean, I've been on a few dates here and there but for the most part I've just been writing."

He smiled at her. "Ah yes, the mysterious story. How's it coming?"

"It's going. I've been trying to figure out the characters right now. You know, figuring out their flaws and their arcs and things like that. It's been tough."

"That's understandable. You're trying to write a _story_ about people. It's meant to be a battle, Pipes. Just let them come naturally."

"It's easy to write but trying to figure out who they are? What they'll be going through in the story? That's the hard part. I can't just write with no purpose."

"I get that but isn't your story trying to be in real life?" Piper nodded. "Life sometimes doesn't have a purpose. Don't focus too much on the end goal."

Piper disagreed. She could _tell_ that Jason knew she disagreed. It hurt too much to look at him and tell him how she really felt so she just nodded her head. "Thanks, Jason."

•••

Piper felt a tap on her shoulder. She looked up from her safe place on her laptop. As soon as the flight attendant gave the all-clear, both she and Jason had grabbed their laptops out from underneath them faster than someone could say 'Mount Olympus'. The two hadn't said a word since Jason had given her writing advice.

"Hey, Pipes, do you have a spare phone charger? Mine died," Jason half-whispered. He looked at her for the first time in about two hours.

She looked back and was startled by how blue his eyes were in the airplane lighting. _'Were they always this blue?'_ she wondered. It took her a while to finally realize he had asked her something. "Um... I think so. It's in my luggage up there. Can you get it?"

Jason nodded and stood up, reaching to get her luggage down from the compartment above them. He put her carry-on luggage in his seat and zipped it open. Before she realized what she had just let him see, he pulled out her writing journal. It was a worn-out brown, faux leather journal, held together by an old hair tie that Piper hadn't used in a long time. On the top of the journal, held down by the hair tie, was a picture of Jason and her. One that they had taken a long time ago.

Jason grabbed the charger and left the journal on his seat. Afterwards, he put the luggage back up and sat back down slowly, trying not to look at Piper in the eye. Piper was avoiding eye contact too. "So," he started.

"I can explain." Piper said just as Jason said, "You still have that photo, too?"

"Wait what?" She looked away from her laptop and at him, confused.

He laughed to himself. "It's in my suitcase. I've been meaning to take it out for a long time but I keep forgetting." He scratched at the back of his neck.

Piper looked at him with a _'Come on'_ look. "Likely story," she teased. "I haven't written in my notebook in a long time and when I packed it I couldn't figure out where to put the picture. So, I just kept it there. It's okay, though, right? I mean, we both still have the picture so it's not like I'm some clingy girlfriend."

"And I'm not some clingy boyfriend."

"Exactly."

Jason looked at the photo for a few moments. Piper watched him look at it. "This was a fun day..." His voice trailed off.

"Yeah. One of my favorites. I beat you at basketball five times." She nudged his shoulder jokingly.

He laughed, eyes not moving away from the picture. "Sure, whatever you say, Pipes." He finally looked away from the picture and handed her her journal and the photo. "Thanks for the phone charger."

Piper accepted her belongings. "No problem." Silence. She hesitated before talking again. "Do you have to call me that?"

Jason looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"It's just that... I don't know this probably sounds petty but do you have to call me 'Pipes'?"

He looked at her, a smile on his face. "What else would I call you?"

"I don't know, 'Piper'?"

"I guess I can. Why don't you want me to call you that?"

"It just kind of reminds me of what we used to be." She looked at him and then averted her eyes. "Forget it. Just... Please don't call me that anymore."

Jason looked stunned. "Yeah, yeah, okay. Thanks for the charger." He gestured to the charger in his hand and put his earbuds back in. A few seconds of silenced came over the two until Jason took out his earbuds and looked at Piper. Piper was the unlucky victim of needing to grab something from her bag beneath her so when she looked back up, their eyes connected. They were exactly in sync.

"Why can't I call you 'Pipes'?" Jason asked again, both earbuds out now and his full attention on Piper. His voice was both quiet and demanding amid their enclosed environment.

Piper looked at him weirdly and shut her laptop off. "I already told you this?" she said, taking out her own earbuds.

"Yeah but I don't get it. Why can't I call you by your _name_?"

"Because it's a _nickname_ and one that you used to call me when we _dated_ ," Piper said slowly. "It just makes me uncomfortable."

"But _why_?" Jason asked, unrelenting in his anger and confusion.

Piper was beginning to get annoyed by him. She began to whisper-shout. "I don't know why! I just now that overtime someone calls me that, it makes me feel worse than I already do!" She huffed and looked out of her window, facing away from the boy that she had once loved. The boy that she now hated but also loved.

Jason's voice softened a tad bit. "What do you mean?"

Piper gave him a side glance, connecting their eyes again, and made it clear that she wouldn't be the one talking anymore.

Jason knew Piper too well. He knew she wasn't going to say anything for a while. He sighed and started, "That was two years ago. We had our problems. We needed the break." Piper was about to break her silence but Jason continued. "But it doesn't mean it didn't hurt like hell when you made the decision for the both of us."

She looked at him again, eyes confused. "What?"

Jason ran his fingers through his hair, from nervousness, anger, who knows. "It's hard to get over your first love."

Piper snorted. "You weren't over Reyna while you were dating me, Grace? Low blow."

He looked at her, giving her a confused expression. "What? Reyna wasn't my first," he hesitated. "... Anything."

"Then who was?"

"You."

•••

"So, Wise Girl, what do you say? Wanna spend the rest of your life telling me what to do?" Percy Jackson asked, a wide grin on his face, looking at the love of his life while on his knee. His hand extended out towards Annabeth Chase and it was holding up a simple ring. One that meant more than it looked.

Annabeth was currently in shock, her princess curls pulled back so that her hair wouldn't get in the way while her and her boyfriend has taken their nightly walk along the beach. They were now in his living room, surrounded by Percy's parents, Sally and Paul, Leo, Calypso, Jason and Piper. The crowd witnessing held their breath, waiting for Annabeth to finally say yes.

Percy's smile faltered. "Um, Annabeth? It would be a good time to say something."

She looked at him, dead serious. "Is this a joke?"

"What? No!"

"Good." Annabeth broke into a grin and in one movement she put the ring on her finger and connected her lips with Percy's. They moved in sync like the waves and sand on the beach perfectly colliding, fitting into each other just right. The two separated and the blonde girl never failed to surprise everyone. She judo-flipped her newly-made fiancé.

"OW! What was that for now, Annabeth?" Percy jumped up, rubbing his head. He held his hand up, asking the blonde to pull him back up to his feet.

She relented and then punched him in the shoulder. "For not telling me about this! You know we make big decisions together!"

"I DIDN'T THINK YOU WOULD WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THIS DECISION, WISE GIRL!"

"Well, then you thought wrong." Annabeth crossed her arms. A smile snaked back onto the girl's face. "Thanks, Seaweed Brain. The ring's perfect." She pulled Percy towards him and kissed him once more.

The two broke away and Annabeth ran towards Piper, leaving Percy to question all of his life decisions.

"It's so beautiful, Annie!" Piper said.

Annabeth narrowed her eyes at the brunette. "You know, since I just made the commitment to marry old kelp over there, I'm gonna let that nickname slide jus this once. One can only handle so much stupid," she joked.

Piper rolled her eyes. "Really, it's gorgeous. Percy has taste when he needs it."

"You totally picked it out, didn't you?" Annabeth asked Piper, grinning.

Piper laughed. "I totally picked it out."

 _Age 28_

Annabeth Jackson walked into the room where a nervous Piper sat on a hotel bed. The blonde wore a wide grin on her face as she saw Piper sitting there, a navy blue dress sprawled around her. "And to think I never thought I would have seen this day. The good news: the hard part is over. Your groom hasn't left you so you are in the clear, my best friend! You're basically home free!"

Piper rolled her eyes. "Jackson, ew that's so weird to say, all of the stress is _beginning_. Now I have to say hi to everyone and take pictures and make sure I don't fall in these heels!" Piper gestured violently towards the heels that she was forced to wear by her mother. "It's just... Have you seen how tall they are?" The brunette violently whispered, horrified by the sheer fact she had already worn heels for the beginning half of the day.

"Relax, Pipes." Annabeth said. She went towards Piper and took her hands in her own.

The nickname didn't phase the brunette anymore. After all, she has bigger fish to fry from now on.

"I promise it'll get easier as the night continues. Just always look to your right when you feel like running back up here to sleep."

"Why to my right?"

Annabeth smiled. "Because he's going to be right there. Next to you."

•••

"Well hello there, Mrs. Newlywed! How are you doing? Have those heels pierced your soul yet?" Leo asked, sitting next to his girlfriend Calypso, arm handing on her shoulders, and chomping away on the now-cut wedding cake.

Piper rolled her eyes. "The heels have already penetrated my soul, Valdez. Scoot over, I need a break from everything."

He obliged and the girl sat next to him, huffing and putting her head down. He looked down at her, a playful smile on his lips. "What's up, McLean?"

"Nothing... I just wish we didn't invite so many people. I feel so bad when I look like I'm about to cry in front of them."

"Cry?"

Piper sucked in a breath. She whispered, "The heels just hurt so much."

Leo laughed. "One second, Pipes." He looked around the room and practically yelled, "HEY, GRACE! GET OVER HERE. YOU'RE WIFE IS ABOUT TO DIE."

Jason, who had been talking to some of his old football friends from Goode, looked up, confused. He jogged across the room towards his wife and Leo. When he got there he asked, "What's up, Pipes?" He pulled over a chair and sat next to her, rubbing her back calmly.

Piper groaned and decided to unleash all of the pain she had felt the whole day. "THE HEEEEEEELS. THEY HURT, JASE."

He laughed and pulled her up from her comfortable seat. "Come on, McLean. We're going to go back upstairs and get you more comfortable shoes."

Piper protested. "Um, excuse you. Is my last name McLean still? Do NOT tell me I went through this whole morning with heels on to keep my maiden name." She eventually got up and followed Jason. She winced with each step she took.

"DON'T TAKE TOO LONG UP THERE, YOU TWO!" Leo yelled. "Kids, am I right?" He jokingly nudged Calypso.

Calypso rolled her eyes. "You are _so_ lucky you're cute, Valdez."

•••

"ONWARDS AND FORWARDS, MY GOOD STEED. Let us go to our room and get me shoes that will not result in the death of me!" Piper shouted as she rode on the back of a Jason Grace who was approximately five feet away from the door that opened up to their hotel room.

He jokingly teased her, "You know when I offered you a piggy-back ride, I didn't think you would actually treat me like a horse, Pipes."

Piper rolled her eyes. "Then you should've thought harder, Sparky. You are my trusty steed and I am the runaway bride." She put a hand to her forehead, feigning distress to add dramatic flair.

"As your steed, may I ask what are you running away from?" He was finally able to reach their door and swiped their card. A green light lit up and the door clicked open. The steed and his maiden entered the room.

"The dreaded heels." Piper let her weight fall against Jason as a dramatic bride would. "Sometimes I think they follow me everywhere I go," she whispered.

"What? Shoes.. following every step you take? What sorcery is this?" Jason fell onto the bed, making Piper crash into the sheets with him.

"AGH, Jason! I little warning next time?" She slapped him lightly and a curtain of her hair fell in front of her face. Jason moved the hair away from her face himself and kept his hand there, cupping her cheek. His eyes softened as she grinned widely at him. "What is it, Sparky? Are you happy I'm not wearing heels, too?"

He rolled his eyes and rolled, moving close to her on the bed. "I'm just really happy right now. Aren't you?"

It was the brunette's turn to roll her eyes this time. "Of course I am, stupid. I wouldn't be here if I wasn't happy." She pulled herself up from the bed and jumped on the floor, her bare feet sinking into the soft carpet. She offered both of her hands to pull up Jason. He took them but, of course, pulled himself up without the help of his wife.

"Took us a while, didn't it?" He asked, hands on her waist and pulling her closer to him by. He wrapped his arms around her small frame and breathed in her scent. She smelled of sweat and jasmine.

She wrapped her arms around his waist as well. "Took _you_ a while, Sparky."

"Oh sure, blame it all on me. I remember a certain brunette breaking up with me a couple of years ago."

Piper pulled away and looked at him, smiling and shrugging. "You must be thinking about a different brunette because I have no recollection of that."

Jason looked down at her, pulling at the tiny braids she still had in her hair, and said, "Oh really?"

"Of course. She didn't know what she was giving up."

His eyes looked at her, his emotions unreadable, and pulled her in and fervently kissed her. They pulled away. "I'm glad I went on the slide," he said.

"I'm glad I married you."

 _And their story went on..._

* * *

 _A/N: Welp this took me a millennia to finish. I apologize, for those of you who care, for not really posting anymore. I still love Jason and Piper with all of my heart but I've fallen in love with other books and characters and school's dreadful. I just wish I could fall in a rabbit hole and hide away from responsibilities and just read. *le sigh*_

 _Anyways, I really hope you enjoyed this! I started this around October of last year so this one-shot has been a very long work in progress. :)_

 _Please leave a review if you enjoyed! If not, feel free to tell me why. :D_

 _I'm going to go into my thoughts on "The Burning Maze" for a bit so PLEASE IGNORE IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK YET. Spoilers for the book are going left and right which sucks because the book isn't going out worldwide until later this year but I really want to address it since this is a Jasper fic._

 _My_ _thoughts: I can't help but feel like Rick cheated me. I found out what happened in Chapter 33 probably 2 days before the book came out and I realized it would not be the reunion I wanted with my babies. If you couldn't tell, Jason and Piper are my OTP so Rick both breaking them up and killing Jason hurts me so so much. At first, I couldn't accept the fact that he broke them up. But Piper's reasoning was so true. I couldn't fault her in that. What I think was wrong was the fact that he killed off Jason and they still weren't together and that they had unsaid feelings. We know they both still loved each other. We could see it in Jason's eyes and Piper SAID it. Killing off Jason ruins the possibility of exploring the "I need to find myself before I can be in a relationship" theme and the "in the end, they'll always find each other" theme. I'm not mad at him because they broke up (i obviously broke them up in this story) i'm just made he ruined all of th possibilities for their relationship. But also Jasper was probably the second most developed couple in the series after Percabeth? ANY other couple could've made sense but, NO, he decided to break up the ONE COUPLE that was set up in the very first book in HoO. I'm just really bitter about that. In the end, I'm never going to be okay with Jason not being around anymore and I'm probably not going to read any other Rick books in the future. He hurt me way too much with Burning Maze and I don't think I'll be able to pick up one of his new books and not hurt._

 _ **~songsaboutjasper**_


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